Beer-dispensing spigot



March 26, 1940. D. BRoNlco 2,195,022

BEER-DISPENS ING SPIGOT Filed April 25. 1959 www y c i ATTORNEY.

, All

and temperature, but

Patented Mar. 26, 1940 `UNITED STATES; PATENT .OFFICE l r y alcanza u l f BEER-Distr:N'slria.sriatrrv i Domenico-Brunico, Tuckahoa'N. Y'. u, Application April 25,1939, seriall Na. 269,864 1j claim. (or. c25- 5) Thisinvention relates to the-dispensing of bev,`

eragesv such as beer, ale andthe like, byi wayof a draft-tube connected direct to a barrel of such Y beverage, hereinafter referredto as beer..

More particularly, the present invention pro- 1 vides a novel and valuable typeV of spigot, so constructedand operating that, with the beer. delivered at the required low temperature and while under the proper pressure; and desirablyby such means that the flavor of the beeris not contaminated by contact with metal, rubber or the like, the lbeer will be in perfect condition for drinking immediately when drawn by'virtuelof another quality insured as a result of dispensing the beer from the new spigot'. This quality is a certain degree of effervescence. new spigot each draft of beer .drawn can be ofthe same extent ofv carbonation, same pressure and all parts thereof; so that the foam content of each draft deliverecl,andof all .parts ofiY any such draft, can be exactly that prevised according to the temperature and pressure conditions maintained. l 1 i The beer whenv dispensed shouldbeunder a pressure of approximatelyl pounds; such pressure being usually compressed air to the-barrel through a so-called beer-tap coupling. 7 The cooling, of the beer,'so that it shall reach the spigot yat' aV temperatureof approximately 40 has rbeen by some kind of refrigeration; a favored way'of, doing; this, has

been by placing the barrel in va special refrigeratv ing cabinet or chamber;

My copending application Ser. No. 25331132, filed- January 28,` 1939, for al system of beer dispensing involving the use of a straight' draft-tubeofglass or other non-flavor-contaminatingrnateriaL provides means for maintaining the beerin all parts of the system, not only at' the required pressure at a constant temperature regardlessof whether the draft Ibe the lastonedrawn by saidtube fromY a barrel tov empty the latter or vthe first one drawn by the same tube from anew barrel substituted for theempty one following disconnectionofv the tube from the emptied barrel and reconnection vof saidk tube to the substituted barrel. It is with such a system'that the spigotof the present' invention is used with: greatest advantage; although, l spigot is not necessarily to be limited to. that use. The present invention, andthe -various features and advantagesthereof, derstood from the following vdescription of a now nthe spigot partially opened.

Vstructure shownin these views, draft-tubes and I5 the spigot.

By use of the as well as under thev at the saine temperature, in

maintained by admittance of at a constant pressure-and v vertically extending passage 66.

as will be understood, the new will be clearly unpreferred form of spigot` according tothe invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. In saiddrawing 'i y Fig. 1 is a viewvpartially in verticalvsection, andpartially in elevation, showing `such vspigot 5; embodiment, mountedon. the upper end of the draft-tube above referred to. f Fig. k2 is alsol a View in verticalsection;v but taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, and showing the spigot-in closed condition.

. I 10. Fig. 3 is. alview similar to Fig; 2,:but showingA 'Referring' now in detail to the exemplifying Il! indicates the The spigot l5, which as shown is mainly made "of glass, here includes a block-like casing 5l havinga. horizontally extending` conical lopening therethrough infwhich is. set a conical valve#A member 52. At its end ofrlarger size,rthis mein# 20 ber 52 hasa flattened portion' 53 extended beyond vthe casinglil'for taking-an eye-member 54 ofl a handle 55', said handle also including` a main extension56 carrying a set-screw 51 kfor locking the yhandle parts to the valve-member' by turn- 25 ing the extension 56lrelative to the eye-,member 54; The valve-member is held in anti-leak condition in the casing 5I, .yet rotatable therein, by the action of. an expansile spring 58, housed in a cap 59, desirably made of some non-metallicyet 30 non-transparent material like catalin; which cap, P f

hiding the spring, is-held inplace on the smaller end. of the valve-member by a threaded stud` 6] `set in the glass valve-member andV extended the cap-59 toy take 35 v through a' central opening in nutsl. i' ff M A cavity 62 in the valve-member, 52is thusv always heldin line with a passage 63 leading from the upper end of the Adraft-tube ,Iilywith a passage llleadingto ra curvilinearly downwardly eX- 40 r` f tending discharge spout 65, and with an auxiliary 66,v thezpassages Eisv and Ml `are known orl suitable type` of c Like the passage cylindrical, vand any glassv cement, as indicated aty Illa, is used to se-` 455 cure, the upper end of the draft-tubel partially extended into thepassage 63.' 'I'he glass spout L` 65 can be similarlysecured, iiA desired, where it is partially extended into Operation: y As the parts are shown'in Fig.' v2, the spigot isL closed, andthe cavity 62 in the valve-member 52 is open to the atmosphere through tl'iefauxiliary passagel 6,6, such passage hereinafter called; `for lack of a better term,

the passage 54.

the vent. '.Iufhe spigot is r55 l At `the very beginning `of now closed because the passages 63 and 64 are out of communication with each other by way of said cavity 62.

'I'he spigot is opened by turning the handle 55 so as to rotate the valve-member 52 as seen in Figs. 2 and 3 in a counter-clockwise direction. The very first part of this opening movement of the valve-member 52 places the passage E3 in communication with the vent 66, and also in communication with the spout 65; and as the spigot is more andmore-opened, over a fractional rotation ofthe valve-member measured along its ity 52 into the Vent yis gradually decreased, while,

at the same time,

lower end of theV latter, the passage 53 is opened upat .the valve-member so asto there have a cross-sectional area substantially equal to that` of the bore of the tube Il). This bore is of about the same owcapacity as the channel through the spout 65; in which connection it is pointed out that preferably, because thereby best results have been obtained as to foam control, the cross* sectional area of the vent 66 is, as shown, considerably less than that of the bore of the tube I In the course of bringing it from the location shown enough beyond its location showni in Fig. 3 to open the passage 63 sufficiently to give the port in the` bottomof the valve established at the upper end 'of the passage 63 a cross-section at least equal to that ofy the channel through ther spout 65, at the first crack-like opening up of the i passages 63 and 64 to the cavity 62 of the valvemeinber 52, there is an uprush fromthe drafttube of CO2 or compressed air or both from the suddenly untrapped column I as indicated by the arrows a, b, c and d in Fig. 3. the opening of the spigot, most of this gas will follow the path indicated by the arrows a and the Vspout G5, despite the angularity of exten-v sion of the latter relative to the line of gas outrush, because of the relatively large cross-sectional area of the channel through the spout.

- Enough of this gas will, however, enter the vent Y, of, as indicated by the arrows 66 and be discharged from theupper end therec and d, to avoid churning or foaming such beer as now may be inthe lower part of the cavity 62, and which was left therein following closing of the spigo-t after completion of the last-preceding draft.

The bar-tender, desirably, will not place a glass below the discharge end of the spout until he notes the spurt therfrom of the very 4small amount of old beer thus cleaned out of the spigot. As' will be understood, this old beer thus disposed of is triing in quantity, being the'amount flnally trapped in the spigotafter closing the same by returning the valve-member to the position 4shownin Fig. 2, and being thereafter lessened in volume due to discharge of its CO2 content pressed air or both is by way of the vent 66. The

beer now being drawn issues fromthe spout the bottom port of the Valve, that is, the opening from the passage 63 tothe c cavity 52, is gradually increased.A At about the instant the valve-member 52 has been thus; turned so far that it closes the vent 56 at the opening the valve-member by in Fig. 2 to of beer in said tube, l

b, and issue from Y substitution is exactly that retours, based on careful observation of the actual Abehavior of the spigot.

At any rate, the ordinary bar-tender quickly becomes accustomed to the action of the spigot, and very soon is able so to time his placing of the glass below the discharge end of the spout, relative to the rate at which he is `turning the handle 55, to insure that no taste-affecting part of the previously trapped beer in the spigot is delivered to the customer, and at'the same time to lose no part of the fresh beer ycoming from the just-opened draftftube.

In order to facilitate handling of the spigot, suitable stops (not shown) are provided, as has been common practice in making previous spigots, for limiting the ends of the opening and closing movements of the Valve-member 52 of the present spigot. l

The draft of beer drawn each time is of the same degree of carbonation in all parts thereof, so that the foam content is exactly that predetermined.l The collar of foam'at the top of each glass of beer drawn is exactly the same in ,every case, with a given size of glass, mug or stein; and

this can always be exactly as predetermined, as

a result of maintaining constant the'v temperatureand pressure factors,` and hence the comto be drawn and discarded before one suitable for delivery to the customeris obtained, after either an over-night shut-down, or following of a new full barrel for an emptied one.v

Ihe foam control of the present invention, not only' for always' serving to a customer more quickly than heretofore a perfect glass of beer, but foreliminating the'considerable beerwastage previously inevitable,` is assisted materially, so far as is concerned maintaining constant the temperature and pressure factors, by using a glass draft-tube and -aY glass spigot, in view of the high heat conductivity of glass. Also, by making these parts of glass, the beer is held to itstrue natural fiavor; and the customer is able visually as well as gustatorily toappreciate this, by observation of the flow of the beer through the spigot when the lattery is made of clear transparent glass, asis recommended. Indeed, in view of the catalin or like cap 59, the spring 58, desirably made of metal, is wholly hidden,'and so this element is not in sight; even though so positioned as not to be at any time in contact with the` beer.

While I have shown and described with great particularity of detail what I now believe to be the most practical and satisfactory embodiment of the spigot of the invention, it Will be understood that various statements hereinabove are made by way of explaining present preferences and by Way of illustration, and not for purposes of limitation, and that the scope of protection contemplated is'to be taken solely from the claim following, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the prior art.

I claim:

Asp-igot for a beer-dispensing installation of the kind including a draft-tube for connection to a beer barrel maintained cool during drawing off of the beer therefrom and of the kind including means for maintaining the cooled beer under f pressure in the barrel and in the tuba-characterized by a construction of such spigot such Ythat it comprises a casing having a beer supply porir in its bottom to be served from the tube, a discharge spout having an inlet spaced from andk above said port, and a vent spaced from said port and said inlet and above the latter; anda rotatable valve-member in said casing having a cavity intermediate the ends of said member and shaped and located` so that when said member is in position to close said port it places said vent and said inlet in communication by Way of said cavity, and so that, during rotation of said member toward full opening of' said port into said cavity, said vent is more and more rclosed relative to said cavity as said port is more and more opened relative thereto, said vent being of less cross-sectional area than said port, and said cavity including a dening back Wall concavely facing said inlet, said wall having a length so extending transverse to said member that when said ,Wall in its bottom portion is backed by a. part of saidv member which closes said port substantially at a side limit thereof closest to said inlet 'said Wall at its top is substantially at a side limit of said vent most remote from said inlet, whereby on rotation of said member to first openup said port to a crack-like extent said vent is closed to avery small extent by the portion of said member backing said Wall top, said vent and port being so shaped and located relative to each other and tothe. top and bottom of said Wall that when said member has been rotated to open upy Y the port to substantially the same cross-sectional area as said inlet said vent is wholly closed.

DOMENICO BRONCO. 

